NFL Playoff Predictions 2012: Who Is Advancing from Wild Card Weekend?

It’s hard to believe the playoffs are already this weekend. It seems like yesterday we were just talking about when the lockout would end.

This weekend has four games on tap. Two on Saturday with the Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans, and the night game has the Detroit Lions traveling to New Orleans to take on the Saints.

The two on Sunday are the Atlanta Falcons traveling to take on the NFC East champion New York Giants, and the Pittsburgh Steelers taking on the AFC West champion Denver Broncos.

Normally homefield advantage plays somewhat of a key in playoff games due to the home crowd atmosphere, and it could be a factor this weekend.

The Houston Texans are hosting a playoff game for the first time in franchise history, the New Orleans Saints have one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL, and what’s crazier than Bourbon Street and New Orleans on a Saturday night. The Sunday games have Denver hosting a playoff game for the first time in a while, and New York hosting as well.

The next four slides are my predictions on who’s going to be advancing to the divisional round next weekend.

Houston Texans over Cincinnati Bengals

This matchup is probably the most surprising of any of them. If you would have said before the season that the Houston Texans would have won the AFC South division and the Cincinnati Bengals would have been one of the wild card spots after losing their starting quarterback and top two wide receivers off of a four-win team and are now starting rookies, I would have called you crazy.

Now, the two teams face off in Reliant Stadium in the first game of the NFL Playoffs on Saturday.

I do think Cincinnati has a chance of knocking off Houston, but they need to play a perfect game. The defense needs to stop Houston's second-ranked running attack and get pressure on rookie quarterback T.J. Yates.

On the other side of the ball Cincinnati needs to make solid gains and quarterback Andy Dalton needs to keep the ball away from the Texans.

After all, it took Houston a late drive to beat Cincinnati 20-19 on December 11th behind the same players, and the Texans haven't won since.

I do think though, the Texans will end that slide and advance to the divisional round.

Houston's rushing attack is way too strong and I don't think Cincinnati will be able to slow it down much. A solid running game will make it easier for T.J. Yates to find open receivers and to calm his nerves.

I think Houston's second ranked defense will wreck havoc on the inexperienced  20th ranked Cincinnati Bengals offense on the other side of the ball.

The Texans bring a lot of pressure from different areas, and I think it will create some turnovers.

Another factor of why I think Houston will win is due to the crowd noise. It will be rocking in Reliant Stadium with their first ever playoff game, and I think the crowd will raise the level of play from the Texans even higher.

Combat all of that and Cincinnati's 0-7 record against playoff teams this year, and I think Houston pulls it off.

Prediction:

Houston 27 Cincinnati 20

New Orleans Saints over Detroit Lions

The night game of the opening day of playoffs will be a rematch of a regular season matchup as well. Detroit lost to New Orleans in the Superdome on Sunday Night Football 31-17 on December 4th. Drew Brees threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns that night.

Detroit is making their first playoff appearance in over a decade and haven't won a playoff game since 1991. The Lions started the season off 5-0 and looked to be a serious contender for the Super Bowl, but a 2-5 stretch in the middle of the season changed their fate.

The Saints on the other hand are coming into the playoffs hot, and may be the favorite to win the Super Bowl despite their three seed in the NFC.

New Orleans hasn't lost since Halloween weekend and were a perfect 8-0 in the Superdome this season. They have the league's best passing attack and offfense, and will be a hard unit to stop by the Lions' 23rd ranked defense.

Drew Brees broke the record for the most passing yards in a season, and I think he may break the playoff record for most passing yards in a game on Saturday night.

The Lions gave up 480 yards passing to Packers back up Matt Flynn last Sunday and was a big reason why Detroit lost to the second stringers on Green Bay last weekend.

The Lions have a high powered offense themselves, but I just don't think it will be enough. They rank fourth in the NFL in passing and fifth in total offense, but with the rowdy Superdome, I think Matthew Stafford and company will slow a bit.

If you're looking for a high scoring contest, you will be in for a treat.

Prediction:

New Orleans 48 Detroit 31

New York Giants over Atlanta Falcons

This may be the closest playoff game of the weekend. Both teams have never faced eachother in a playoff game and look to be very evenly matched.

The New York Giants went 3-1 in the last four games to win the NFC East and make the playoffs. Eli Manning is playing the best of his career, and the defense looks to have finally gotten their swag back after holding the team back after their 6-2 start to the season.

Atlanta on the other hand started slow, but regained their power from last year where they were the No. 1 seed in the NFC and claimed homefield advantage.

This game will come down to which defense can make the most critical stops in the end. Matt Ryan has so many weapons with rookie receiver Julio Jones, tight end Tony Gonzalez, veteran receiver Roddy White. Him and Eli Manning both threw for 29 touchdown passes with Manning being 67 yards shy of throwing for 5,000 yards this year. Manning on the other hand has big play Victor Cruz to throw to on his team and two very capable running backs to pull out the win.

I think though the Giants defense will get enough pressure on Matt Ryan and force some long situations for the Falcons. Atlanta's offensive line has struggled to protect Ryan at times, and New York has 11 sacks combined the last two games.

Prediction:

New York 24 Atlanta 20

Pittsburgh Steelers over Denver Broncos

This game will get a lot of attention due to Denver's starting quarterback Tim Tebow playing the very popular Pittsburgh Steelers.

Denver's said they will try to lean on more of a passing game Sunday against the league's top ranked defense. I like Tim Tebow, but I don't think this is the game to change things up. The Broncos have the 31st ranked passing attack in the league and when you try and change that up against the league's top defensive passing attack, it could spell trouble.

Tebow really doesn't have many weapons outside of receiver Eric Decker. They have solid receivers, but none of them I feel can step up in this big of a situation.

The Steelers may be without their safety Ryan Clark, but they still have Polamalu last time I checked.

Why get away from what's worked to get you here? I know it will be tough to run that offense against a stout 3-4 scheme that the Steelers play, but you have to stick with what got you to this point right now.

On the other side of the ball Pittsburgh is really banged up. They're without starting running back Rashard Mendenall for the playoffs, and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is basically playing on one foot.

I think the banged up offense will be why this game is closer than what it should be, but I think Pittsburgh's defense will be too much on Sunday.

Prediction:

Pittsburgh 16 Denver 13